Not a Tensai
by I.Hate.Running
Summary: In her company he was no longer Fuji the Tensai, the prodigy. He was just himself. But things always get in the way when all you want to be is happy. There are always obstacles. Will they get through it together? FujixOC story.
1. Broken Promise

My, my. I actually came up with this story as I was ... well, partly drunk -laugh-. I know it sounds pretty strange I'm sure, but I did. My brother has just graduated so his classmates and him were driving around in this big truck and yelling stuff and visiting all the homes. When they came home to us my mom had made some punch and had reassured my there was no alcohol in it.

I didn't trust her but decided to drink a bit off it. I only drank it because of the strawberry I swear, but as they were moving on the next home my mom and dad had gone with them to say bye, leaving me with the punch. It tasted pretty ok so I continued and then my parents came back and … well, yeah. Surprise to them I guess.

Anywho!

I _will _continue with _Powerful Rikkai Dai_, but I would really like to write this story before I loose interest in it again – I know this can be good if I try, so I'd like to get it out as soon as possible.

Well, I will post chapter 35 of PRK soon and then take a minor break with it before continuing with year two. But now, this story!

**Warning**

If you don't like OC stories I might as well say this right now, don't read my stories – they are all with OC's.

**Disclaimer**

As always I don't own any of the characters of Prince of Tennis – wish I did – so I take no credit for anything except for my OC and the plotline, which I came up with myself.

This is FujixOC, but will partly develop into something else too. But I'm not saying too much as people should find out themselves, no?

Hope you all like it and please do come with comments and constructive critics to improve my writing through reviews! Yes please!

Thanks.

IHR.

---

**Not a Tensai**

Chapter 1 – Broken Promise

"Are you alright?" The voice cut through the pain which she was desperately trying to hide, the question breaking into her mind making her aware of the situation once again. She smiled meekly, reassuring her captain everything was fine, it was just perfect. Trying to act as normal as possible she picked up the water bottle with her hand, hoping no one noticed it was shaking violently. Pressing the tip of the bottle against her lips she drank the liquid, eyes scanning over the crowd in the meanwhile, trying to make out his face.

_Just a bit more. _She told herself, closing the bottle with the cap and shuffling it down into her bag again. "Can you continue?" She was asked once again, this time as she was unable to hide the grimace that spread across her face as her fingers gripped around the racket.

"Of course." She said, eyes glaced over. With that she walked back onto the court to meet her opponent. The wind was cutting through her bones as she was already in a half-feverish condition, knowing quite well that her conscience was slipping past her fingers even though she was desperately trying to hold onto it. The chilling air helped her keeping her focus and she slowly walked to her position on court, awaiting the other girl to serve in the final set of the match.

5-4.

She was still in the lead but as the match had gone into its sixth set the pain had been almost unbearable, making the other player gain point after point, and now making the score almost the same. _Almost_. All it would take was for her to take these final points, take the set and she was done – she would have won. Her eyes locked with her opponent's. Once again the wind blew across the court where silence ruled, everyone holding their breath as if they could all feel the silvery-haired girl's pain. She grabbed around her shaking right arm with the other, trying to calm it.

The other raised her racket slowly, the yellow ball being slung into the air. Naiko's blurry eyes followed the bane, preparing for the painful impact with her own racket which would soon occur.

_Bock. Bock._

But the ball merely rolled against the ground, never having been served.

"I forfeit."

Naiko was confused. Had her mouth spoken without her knowing? No, she had not said it. Her opponent had. Her eyes shot up once again, connecting with a pair of green eyes looking directly back at her.

"I forfeit." The girl repeated, smiling. "I know you won't stop and I can not stand watching this any longer … you deserve the championship and I well know about your injury. If you didn't have it you would have won without any hardship and I don't want to win with my opponent having this sort of handicap."

Naiko bowed her head gratefully. "Thank … you." With this her conscience left her body and she fell to the ground, pain having taken too much of her energy as it was already.

How she had managed to stay awake that long was a mystery.

---

She winched as the doctor wrapped the cast around her swollen arm, but she bit into her lip to keep any sound from escaping, knowing quite well the elder man would right away reprimand her about how foolish she had been. "And I who thought I would not see you in a couple of weeks before you had to change the cast … I honestly did not expect you to be carried into the ER _without _your cast and the arm in an even worse state than last time."

The girl didn't respond.

As he was finished he looked up at her, giving her a piercing look through his spectacles. "Can you _promise _not to get into the hospital before I call you in for a check up?"

She muttered an answer.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes …"

"Good." He pointed to her arm. "Do NOT use it to anything or I can't promise you will be able to use it again." Once again he stared at her. "You can especially not play tennis for some time." At this she reacted quite strongly, about to retort but the hand interlaced with her own comfortingly closed further around hers, making her calm down instantly. Her reaction had not passed the doctor's attention and this time he directed himself to the boy next to Naiko. "I hope you will keep her away from tennis as I do not exactly trust her to keep her promise."

Naiko pouted. "I _do _understand!"

The doctor sighed.

---

She glanced towards him as they were sitting in the backseat of the small, blue car, none of them having said anything since they were picked up from the hospital. "I'm sorry." She muttered apologizing, head bowed towards her feet.

He turned his head towards her and with his horseshoe-shaped eyes he gave her his usual smile, reassuring her. "I'm not mad." He said calmly. "Even though you promised not to participate in the match as your arm was _broken_ … There is no reason what so ever for me to be mad at the person breaking a promise given to _me_."

Her face paled drastically and she quickly looked away, crying out in her mind. _He SO is mad._

She was luckily saved by their driver who had been following the conversation in silence and was fully aware of the pinch the girl was in. She glanced over her shoulder and spoke up. "Are your parents home, Naiko-chan?" Having watched Shusuke grow up she knew quite well how to read poker faces, though it was not needed to understand the look at gratitude emitting from the girl. She laughed lowly.

"Ah, no … Dad most likely will not be home before next week and I think mom is having a meeting until late tonight." She shrugged but quickly recoiled as she had moved her arm a bit too much. "I'll be fine though." She finished.

"Don't be silly, you are staying with us tonight."

Naiko did not even bother arguing, she would loose anyways - no one could ever win an argument with a _Fuji_.

---

Not being used to eating – or all in all doing normal things with her left hand – she fumbled around with her fork, trying to satisfy her hungering stomach, but failed. Trying to stab a spring roll which in stead led to it flying over the edge of the dinning table, she reached out in reflex with her right hand to catch it. Tears sprung to her eyes in pain, making the person next to her sigh. The brown-haired teen gently took the fork away from her and picked the knife up with his other hand, cutting off a piece from another roll. Naiko muttered something under her breath but did nothing more to stop him.

"Say _ah!_" He smiled, knowing well enough it was making her annoyed – which only made it more fun.

"I'm not a kid." She argued though she still ate it. Showing how much she was against being fed like that she grumpily stared at him whenever the chance occurred.

Yumiko and her mother both watched the two _lovebirds_, laughing lowly about _youth_. The mother to all the Fuji's leaned across the table and quickly got the attention of the two teenagers, both looked towards her. "Naiko-chan, want to spend the night here too with Shusuke?"

She stared. "S-spend the … night?"

"Yes, we can't possible send you home like that."

Shusuke's mother was a female replica of him sometimes; they had the same eyes bowing upwards in that innocent smile, but it was obvious there was something behind that façade – but it also quite clearly showed that it would be _very _difficult to go against what they said.

"Ah … sure, I guess I could stay."

"Lovely, I'll prepare something for you." With this the older woman stood up, slowly tilting her head towards her daughter. "I think it is somewhere in the closet and I might need help with moving some things."

Yumiko merely blinked back, apparently not getting the hint.

"Could you possible come help me, sweetheart?"

"Can't you- Oh? Oh! Of course!"

With that the two women left the dinning room and the two teens, grinning at their master plan. Running her unharmed hand through her long hair, Naiko sighed at how obvious it was and then turned towards Fuji, knowing quite well what to do now. Oh yes, the hard part of _making up_. "I'm sorry that I broke my promise, Shu-kun."

The horseshoe-eyes stared back at her, making her aware she was far from being forgiven. "I only made you promise it for your own good, but if you want to recklessly ruin your arm then I guess I can't do anything about it. Maybe I shouldn't care about my girlfriend either, no?"

Her eye twitched and suddenly she turned away from him, pouting. "And I who even forgave _you_!"

At this his eyebrow arched up ever so slightly. "Forgive me?"

"Yeah!" She exclaimed. "I remember quite clearly you went out with that grade school girl … What was her name again? Kurumi, wasn't it?" Twirling in the chair so she was facing him, she stuck out her tongue. "You went on _two _dates with her even though _we_ were dating at that time … as your girlfriend I think I should be highly insulted by that. I forgive you even though you cheated on me, but you can't forgive me for playing the final match for my team?"

Both knew very well it had not been a real date with Kurumi, but Fuji had been forced not only by the little girl but Momoshiro and Eiji had made it all worse – both having felt Naiko's wrath afterwards of course. But that did not mean she could not use it for her advantage, now did it? Fuji sighed, also aware he could not get away with this one. "Forgive and forget then? As long as you promise to be more careful now, you know the consequences if you start to play tennis again before it have fully healed … all in all straining it."

She stared at him for a short while, thinking it over in her head. "Fine … I will quit tennis until I can use my arm again, happy?"

"Very." The sadistic smile appeared. "Also as you have to spend the night with me."

She blushed furiously, throwing her left hand at him playfully. "Shut up!"

---

Naiko stared up at the wooden ceiling, unable to sleep as one too many thoughts ran through her head at that time. The moonlight shone through the open window whenever it had a chance to get past the curtains that blew in the slight wind, leaping in. Strange shadows were cast over the room and in her half-awake state she saw monster after monster, sneaking closer to her to only disappear when the wind calmed down.

She snuck down under the blankets, the smell of her boyfriend filling her nose as she was indeed sleeping in his bed – Fuji had been demoted to sleep on the floor in an old sleeping bag. Feeling just a bit more secure she closed her eyes, muffling a yawn and dazed off into dream land …

Fuji on the other hand was still awake, watching her from the – hard – floor, noticing how she had been shifting uncomfortably but in the end had calmed down. He sighed. "Idiot …" He muttered, slowly edging out of the cocoon. He snuck across the floor as silently as possible and opened a drawer in his desk, pulling out his camera. Shortly after, he was taking pictures of her sleeping face for the scrapbook. He nearly ran out of film when a tendril of drool ran down her chin. "Lovely … blackmail."

How his mother could possible have put the two in the same room was a mystery to all, as a parent's role was normally to keep them _apart_.

---

_I, Suzuki Naiko, will hereby withdraw myself from the Seigaku te__nnis club until my arm has healed – completely. But until that I am no longer a member of this team and my spot on the regulars will go to someone else._

She handed the note over to her _former_ captain; the last mentioned grabbing the note and pulled it towards herself. "Naiko-chan, let go."

"Eh?" She stared down upon her hand, not having let go just yet. "Thought I had …" Pulling her hand away, she laughed slowly and ran it through her hair. "Good luck in the Nationals, I'm sure you will do great." With that she bowed and ran off towards Fuji, who was waiting for her to leave for the day.

---

_I'll be back! That's a promise!_

---

OKAY!

First chapter of a new, short story that I'm planning on writing here in my holiday. I hope you guys like it even though I haven't written that much just yet and you would probably not have any idea what will happen in it. And I do know that I have a gazillion other stories waiting for me -mutter-. But they WILL be written, so do not worry; I have finally gotten through my exams and school and now have one month holiday where I can do whatever I want!

Reminds me, I think I've lost some of my intelligence when I was reading up on exams ...

My dad yelled at me today to come out and eat with his usual "Are you stupid or something?" as my mom had already said there was dinner - and if you don't come when she has said that it equals pain, lots and lots of it.

But I decided to respond with "Dad, you should know by now I am not stupid. You have known me for 15 years already!"

His respond was merely "You are 17."

... Says it all!

Please review and say what you think! I'll start writing the 2nd part right now so we can get to see what this will lead to!

SEE YOU!


	2. Drawings

Second part of _Not a Tensai_, and I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it! -smile- -smile-

I find it hard to write Naiko when I'm used to writing Nadjai from _Powerful Rikkai Dai_, but I guess I should just have chosen someone whose name doesn't start with N … and followed up by i. -ponder-

Ah well!

---

**Not a Tensai**

Chapter 2 – Drawings

Fuji Shusuke was known as a person always having full control of the situation, whatever the situation might be and where ever the situation might occur. This angelic looking boy was what most people would call a _Tensai_ or prodigy. He was popular among all and they would obey his every command … but there was _one_ person he could not control.

Naiko shifted nervously as she felt a gaze upon her. Slowly, trying to hide the fact she had been holding her backpack with her _right_ arm she moved it over into her other hand, speeding up towards the school entrance. Panic gripped the tip of her mind, pressing its way into her as she heard the _"kya!"_ from the girls getting closer towards her. Just as she reached for the doorknob into school a hand was put upon her own, making her unable to move.

She felt his breath against the top of her head and a voice whispered to her. "Wrong hand?" Indeed, she was about to open the door with the once injured hand, something that would get her into even more trouble. Pulling her hand away from his she ruffled her hair and turned towards him, noticing how close he actually stood. Naiko gave him an innocent smile, trying to hide the blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Good morning, Shu-kun!" She greeted her boyfriend.

He sighed. "'morning."

Opening her mouth to argue as he took her backpack from her, he only gave her a stern look, blue eyes clearly shown. Instantly, her mouth closed again and she trudged after him into school.

This prodigy was known to always smile, to always hide his eyes. But rarely, when he was associating with his girlfriend his _famous _eyes made their appearance – which was one of the few reasons his fan club had not taken care of Naiko just yet. Those intoxicating, hypnotizing eyes … As always Naiko noticed the entire female population looking dreamingly after her boyfriend. She grimaced. "I wish you could mature into being ugly." She told him as they entered class.

He chuckled. "Oh?"

"Yeah, go run through a nuclear core or something and then mutate! I'm sure they would stop _ogling _you then …" She huffed angrily and sat down into her seat, pulling her bag close to herself and found out her notebook.

"If I was mutated would you still date me?" He asked, amused.

She fell silent for a moment, thinking it over. Her brow furrowed as she came to a conclusion. "Most likely not."

He sat on top of her desk, looking down upon her with a pair of puppy dog eyes – something he had learned from one of his friends, Eiji Kikumaru – and she sighed. Ignoring him, Naiko ruffled through the chaos in her bag and found out a pencil and in stead scribbled into the book. He tipped it down with a finger as she tried hiding her grin behind the little, innocent book. "Would you?" He repeated.

"Of course, you dimwit!" She slapped the book shut and crushed his finger in the progress. "If I wanted a good-looking boyfriend there would be better choices … I chose you for your extraordinary personality. I mean, who can blackmail people and look _hot_ at the same time? It's humanly impossible."

He grabbed her book away from her and moved towards his seat, completely ignoring her arguing voice calling out towards him as the teacher arrived. "Good morning, class." He greeted them all, dropping his bag onto the ground and found out the protocol.

"Good morning, sensei!" They all chimed, knowing the procedure as the back of their hands.

Fuji ignored the glares a certain someone was sending him and in stead turned the pages in the book, reading what the girl was writing in classes in stead of actually _paying attention_. Naiko on the other hand was craning her neck as she was looking back onto her boyfriend, a couple of rows behind her. As Fuji moved to a page consisting of an interesting picture, he looked up, angelic smile in place.

_"Give it back!" _She mouthed at him. _"Or I'll butcher you in the break!"_

He did not respond but held up the book.

It was quite an old drawing, Naiko noticed, taking in the details shortly after. The first thing she spotted was a person, unmistakable a portrait of Fuji; the next thing was the fact he was brutally being beaten by her with a racket. She quickly turned around in her chair and faced the blackboard, horror written across her face. _Oops … _And so she started coming up with a proper explanation to tell when he would without doubt corner her when the opportunity showed itself.

"Fuji Shusuke?"

"Here." He answered without paying attention but was in stead staring at the picture – the picture where his own girlfriend was murdering him. How absolutely … interesting? He noticed the small note in the right corner and looked at it closer.

"Suzuki Naiko?"

"H-here."

She was nervous. _Good._

He managed to make out her messy handwriting and found it to be the date of the drawing. "Hm?" He mused. She had apparently drawn it almost two years ago, a few weeks after the accident that had broken her arm – the first time that is.

"Naiko-chan, why don't you read the first part?"

"E-eh? Hai!" She scrambled to her feet and picked up the book, which had just been handed out throughout the class. She stared at the first page, clearly not having prepared for _this_. "On-once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy …" She breathed in quickly.

Fuji chuckled soundlessly at her _explicit _English accent.

"This story is about something that happened to them when … they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-ra-" She looked up at the teacher for help.

"Raids." He said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"-air-raids." Naiko turned the page, fumbling. "They were sent to the house of an old Pro-Professor who lived in the heart of the country, ten … miles from the nearest post office. He had no wife and he lived in a very large house with a house-housekeeper called Mrs … Mac-Mac-" She glared at the book for being so incredibly bothersome. "Macready and three servants."

"Yes, thank you Naiko-chan, that's enough." The teacher said. "Good job. Haruna, you're up next!"

Another victim stood up while Fuji's girlfriend slopped down into her chair, happy it was over. Her eyes followed the text, trying to keep up with what the other girl was reading aloud to the class. She tapped her pencil against the desk, mind slowly wandering off and closing out the single voice, the hum of a bee clacking against the window over and over and the clock ticking away.

Fuji watched her and tried not to laugh out loud when her head slammed onto the desk. Her head slowly rose up again as she had been awakened by the sudden pain, piercing her skull as if a hammer had cracked it up in two. She rubbed her face and nose, as it had been crushed against the wooden board. She stifled a yawn and absentminded listened to the next person, who was reading from _Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_, and then scanned through the book to find the correct page.

_Brrrrrrring!_

The bell rang across the entire school as the first period had ended. Naiko nearly fell down from her chain in shock but quickly composed herself and stood up. She stuffed her pencil and book down into her bag and started wondering where her notebook had run off to … and she remembered.

_Oh god …_

Her eyes jumped to the door and she calculated the possibilities of survival; maybe if she ran for it she could get to the exit before it was too late. Her brain had come to a result: 0% possibility of survival. "I got a few questions for you." Fuji said as he stepped in front of her, blocking her way and giving her the usual angelic smile for when she was in trouble. "Question one, why am I being murdered? Question two, why am I being murdered with a racket? And question three, why am I being murdered with a racket by my girlfriend?"

Her mouth dropped open to give the speech which she had been preparing throughout class, but under his smile she lost the ability to utter a single word. "Err …" Her eyes shifted nervously around, scanning the room for an escape. "You see …" She breathed in deeply and sighed, then spoke up. "Well, I was just being just a tincy-wincy bit angry as you had told me not to play tennis anymore after the accident … So I was just … letting out some anger and ended up doing a doodle." Her brow furrowed. _What the heck is a _doodle_? _

He noticed her facial expression and laughed. "I see. As expected of you."

She glared. "What do you mean by that?"

He waved it off and picked up her bag. With this he left the room to go to their next class. Naiko looked after him, wondering if he was going to leave it at that. Was there really no evil plan, no evil mastermind coming with horrible things that could _accidently _befall her? She shivered. _Oh yes there is. _The sadistic prodigy was yet to finish, that was for sure. She questioned herself and her sanity – why was she dating the Devil?

She sighed and ran after him.

---

She laughed slowly as they were sitting in the chemistry lab, the teacher writing something that looked like a chemical reaction onto the blackboard – Naiko tried concentrating on the teachings but was having a really hard time doing so as she felt someone … stare at her.

"Nya … Nai-chan, why is Fujiko glaring at you?" Her lab partner asked, trying to understand the situation. She grimaced; others were apparently noticing too and she could just picture how all the other girls in class were silently praying for them to break up. "Did you two fight?"

She tried smiling but all in all it turned out to become an even worse grimace. "Let's just say he found something he should not have found."

"Oh, one of those things that girls use when they are alone?"

She stared. "What the heck …? I really think you are sick sometimes, Eiji."

"Not like that, nya!" He said, waving his hands in front of himself, trying to shoo the thoughts away. She continued eyeing him and wondered if there was a chance the teacher would assign her another partner … then again Eiji Kikumaru was probably one of the best solutions.

She looked around in class, watching what choices she had.

All girls were out of the question being Fuji fan girls.

All boys were out of the question being victims for Fuji pranks afterwards.

Fuji was out of the question too, as that would just be … too much, even for her.

She sighed. Indeed, Eiji was the best choice. He was not a rapid fan of Fuji (hopefully), he would most likely not _accidently _die after a class with her and he was not Fuji. And then again, both of them were absolutely not going to be scientists in the future as they were completely hopeless at chemistry – so they had been paired up so that no one else would be dragged down into the black hole which some would call their grades.

"He found a drawing I had made of him."

"How nice, was it one of those with hearts and such?!"

"Actually, it was one where I was killing him with a racket."

Eiji stared. "And you call me sick?"

"Shut up." She growled, noticing the teacher was looking at them both. She pointed to him. "He started."

---

"Let me see, nya, let me see!" She watched as Eiji was crawling all over her boyfriend, trying to get his hands on the notebook. Her eye twitched as countless of girls were taking out their cell phones as two of the most popular guys in school were giving off the aura of _true friendship_. "Not fair, I want to see Fujiko murdered too!" She sighed and decided to let them be. In stead she focused on her chemistry homework and tried to fill out the last questions for the tests they had made the same day. In the end it seemed that Fuji had given up and the Cat-like boy was laughing at the picture. "You are pretty good at drawing actually!"

"Thanks." She muttered, not really listening. Fuji slid down onto the seat next to her.

He looked over her shoulder onto the answers, once again trying to make out her handwriting – she had, throughout the time where she was unable to use her right hand, started writing with her left and apparently had not changed back when it was healed – and then he pointed on one of the numbers. "The molecular mass should be a bit higher than that I'm sure."

"It doesn't make sense to me no matter what numbers it is."

"And you even had the chance to improve in these things as there no longer was any tennis." Her eyes darkened and Fuji noticed right away that he had entered the _pushy _subject. He poked her in the side of her stomach, making her urge away from him and over the edge of the bench. She glared at him from the ground.

"Baka!" She yelled at him. "You did that on purpose."

"Of course." He merely stated, smile in place.

Eiji was sitting from across of them and was curiously looking through the book. "And she calls me sick …" He repeated to himself, thoughtfully. A ruler made an impact with his head as Naiko was glaring at him from the other side of the table. "What did I do?"

---

TA DA!

Second chapter … what do you all think -breaks into a nervous laughter-? I think I deserve some credit here; I'm trying to write it _seriously _so to say as I am pretty much a person who write crack. I really, really don't want this to be funny!

If anyone got tips for me how to keep it all on the serious side TELL ME! I'm desperate -laugh-

Review please! Or I shall … well, I won't do anything!

Other than that -shivers- me and romantic stuff is just wrong! I can't do it! I try but ... Noooooooooo! -runs of screaming-

And that conclused the author's talk.


	3. Old Wounds

-stares- I have this spider crawling across the floor which has trapped me in my beanbag and the only thing with me is this … So, the only thing I can do is write things until my parents come to remove it. And yes, I am FREAKISHLY scared of spiders. And there is this fly thingy that keeps flying real CLOSE to my face so I'm trying to dodge that and keep an eye on the eight-legged freak on the floor.

Oh my … I lost sight of it O.O' someone safe me, please.

Found it … on the computer …

---

**Not a Tensai**

Chapter 3 – Old Wounds

"Oi, you are in my way, Viper!"

"Fsshh, what did you call me, baka?"

"Who are you calling baka, you Viper?"

"Want to have a go at it?"

Naiko watched as the two sophomores were going for each other's neck as usual, her eyebrow raised slightly as they were pretty much rolling around on the ground just outside the tennis courts – they had not even managed to get inside the fence today before the arguing had started. She sighed as the vice-captain tried breaking them apart. "Poor Oishi …" She muttered but directed her attention towards _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_, a gift from her mom and dad as they were apparently trying to make up for the lack of time with their daughter.

She did not even like reading.

_Snow was swirling against the icy windows once more; Christmas was approaching fast. Hagrid had already __single-handedly delivered the usual twelve Christmas trees for the Great Hall; garlands of holly and_

"You are so weak, baka!"

"I am? How about yourself, Viper!"

"Y-you two, calm down please."

"Baka!"

"Viper!"

"S-stop it already."

Her eye twitched as the constant yelling broke her concentration. She shut the book tight and glared at them before she jumped to her feet and walked over. Passing the hyperventilating senior she grabbed the nearest of the sophomores in the ear and pulled him away from the other. "That's enough already." She said calmly. Momoshiro tried squirming out of the by far shorter girl's death grip, but she twisted his ear easily, making him recoil and remain still next to her. Her eyes fell upon the other who was watching the spiky-haired boy with glee. "Don't make me come over there." She warned him and then sighed. "Both of you really should try and control yourself. You are first of all giving off a bad impression of the tennis club and you might scare away possible new members with this … It is against school regulations to fight too."

She slowly let go of the poor guy's ear but continued giving him a warning look. Oishi, having watched the entire incident without the courage to _safe_ the two second years, walked closer. "Momoshiro, Kaido, start warming up." Both of them trudged off, leaving the seniors behind.

Naiko looked at the other teen with a stern look. "Oishi, you really have to be more firm with them; you can't give them that much room or they start to think they can do anything they want." She reprimanded him, sounding very much like a mother-in-law telling her son's wife how to raise the children.

She walked back towards her bag and book, as the vice-captain looked at her partly in awe – as expected of Fuji's girlfriend. Then he opened the gate into the courts and walked in to practice, leaving Naiko with her reading.

---

Fuji had watched how she was easily controlling the two enemies with ease and chuckled slightly before turning back towards practice. "BURNING!" His opponent was apparently in high spirits that day or maybe it was only the usual Kawamura with a racket in hand? "Ready, Taka?" He called over the net towards the other.

"COME ON BABY!" Was the only respond he received, making him shake his head, smile never faltering. "BRING IT!"

He hit the ball in what most would call a regular serve; it was only warm-up so what was the point of going all out? Of course Kawamura was not going to go easy on the poor ball and slung the racket at it with all his might. Fuji watched as the ball made an impact with the ground on the other half of his court, looking as if it had burned a crater where it had landed. "Not the best way to die." He mused.

"BURNING!" The other rambled on the other side.

---

Naiko closed the book, giving up. How could she have possible tried to read with Kawamura playing tennis? It was impossible when you had the giant yelling random things at every opportunity … She packed her belongings and slung the bag over her arm and with that made her way over to the fence. She stopped up a few feet away from the flock of fan girls, all chatting happily together and taking pictures of the regulars.

As she stood there she could hear their voices lowering and the stares. "Good evening girls." She greeted them, slowly turning her head towards them and gave them her best copy of the Fuji smile. They just stared, but shortly after they decided to go with what they did best – ignore her. This of course was the best time for her to look them up and she quickly noticed only a few of them was from her own year.

"They just get younger and younger …" She muttered. "Or I get older?" Naiko sighed and watched the match between Kawamura and Fuji, knowing well enough what the outcome would be. The taller of the two were of course a power-player which could be a problem for the more _femininely _built Fuji but still … Who of them was the best? Her brow furrowed. "Did I just think of my own boyfriend as feminine?"

She felt like slapping herself and in stead decided to engage in something more interesting: to talk to fan girls. She stepped a bit closer to them, which did not escape their attention so now they were once again watching her warily, prepared to defend themselves if she attacked.

She smiled. "So, who do you like?"

"Fuji-sama." They all stated simultaneously, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world

A vein probably popped somewhere near her temple. Her boyfriend's fan girls, eh? She continued smiling. "Can I ask you why?" It was always quite interesting to listen to their reasons to go all stalker about someone, unless she could relate herself to the reasons – that made her feel as pathetic as those girls were.

"He is so amazing!" One of them stated, clearly being _way_ far away in dreamland, eyes almost sparking.

"He is so beautiful!" Another one followed up, joined her friend in gaga-world.

Naiko nodded, agreeing with them so far.

"He looks like a girl which is so adorable!"

She froze. _True … _She glanced towards the boy on the court, shaking her head as she took in the more feminine parts of him. "So very true, if I didn't know better I would almost mistake him for a girl." She clapped her hands together. "So you girls are actually in love with someone because he looks like a girl? Sorry to ask, but isn't that a bit strange?"

She ignored their glares.

"Well, if you like someone who is like a girl would it not be easier to go like a girl – because fan girls never really get the idol in the end … so may I suggest as your senior – and being someone having had more time to experience things like these – to go get a normal boyfriend and not try and put someone onto a pedestal and make this _perfect guy_ in your minds. It is most likely not going to happen that you will know the person truly and if you do the dreams you have will most likely not come true but shatter … all in all you will end up heartbroken." She nodded wisely. "I must admit what I just said can be cut down to a few words. Don't go idolizing someone but try finding someone who is actually _real _and not someone whom you have pictured in your mind."

She smiled at them and walked off, having gotten tired of the conversation. Naiko walked past the different courts, watching as people were practicing against each other or swinging their rackets in what people called exorcising (it honestly was useless) and she suddenly found herself in front of the girls' courts.

Her smile appeared, nearly invisible on her lips as she watched the newly appointed captain from this year telling something important to the members. Without knowing her hand moved towards her right elbow and she bit her lip, the memory of the pain running through her mind fleetingly.

She shrugged it off. "Hah … that belongs in the past!"

But still, the thought that had always been nagging in the back of her mind was edging its way into her and sadness filled her. It had been two years since the accident, her bones had healed a long time ago but still … she still had not picked up the racket again, picked up tennis. Then again, there had always been … complications and the healing process had been slowed, as she had had quite a few problems with keeping the promise she had made with both Fuji and the doctor.

Continuously she had found herself playing tennis in hiding, opening olds wounds so to say. She had told Fuji she was writing with her left hand as it was something she had gotten used to but in truth, whenever she picked up a _pencil,_ it hurt … there was always this stinging feeling, as if a piece of glass was stuck in her skin whenever she moved it.

"Nai-chan, what are you doing staring off into space like that?" She snapped out of it and turned around to face her boyfriend. She had no idea how long she had been standing there but the practice had apparently been wrapped up as he was standing in his usual school uniform. His eyes were open as he was looking at her concerned. "What is the matter?"

"There's nothing wrong!" She waved it off. "I was just thinking."

"I didn't know you _thought_. Evolution has finally come to you too …" He muttered, eyes once again returned to their horseshoe-arches. She glared at him but decided not to retort. In stead she laughed, knowing well he only said it to cheer her up.

"You're such an idiot once in a while." She said, leaving the school grounds with him.

---

_Sparkling angel I believe_

_You were my saviour in my time of need_

_Blinded by faith I couldn't hear_

_All the whispers, the warnings so clear_

The CD-player she had with much trouble moved and connected to the electric circuit in the living room send out one of her many random CDs as she was aimlessly walking through the normally silent house, doing all sorts of odd jobs. Naiko stared thoughtfully on a picture of her parents and herself when she was only around five or so … she shook her head. That was the last picture taken where all three of them had been together. "I don't need them …" She muttered to herself, quickly stepping away from it.

The soft humming from the washing machine came to a halt and she walked out to fetch the laundry. Whistling along to the song she pulled out the clothes and tumbled it all down into the white basket.

_I see the angels,_

_I'll lead them to your door._

_There's no escape now,_

_No mercy no more._

_No remorse cause I still remember_

As she had made sure there was nothing left – socks often seemed to mysteriously disappear at this process – she picked up the basket and placed it against her hip before she left the room, closing the door after her with a foot. She entered the living room again and walked to the CD-player to turn up the sound even further so she would be able to hear it from her room.

_The smile when you tore me apart._

_You took my heart,_

_Deceiving me right from the start_

_You showed me dreams,_

_I wished they'd turn into real_

Her ears started ringing as the music maybe got a bit _too _high for her taste and she quickly turned the volume back down again. Massaging her head slightly getting the shock out again she did not notice where she was stepping; or the fact her foot tangled itself into the wire. Naiko walked away from the music again but her entangled foot was kept back by the wire. Before she was able to react she stumbled over it and fell towards the ground.

_You broke a promise and made me realize_

_It was all just a lie_

Through instinct she shielded herself with her hands, making them take off from the impact with the floor. Pain shot up through her arm as her old wound reopened once again. She bit down into her lip, trying to keep the scream from making its way out. She sat down onto the ground and held around her right arm in pain and watched as it once again started to shake violently.

"Not again …"

---

-the author makes an incredible appearance and the crowd goes wild-

Thank you, thank you!

-gets showered in roses-

Nah, honestly, I'm pretty sure you found this chapter boring … but I am a very desperate person right now … it is currently 5 AM and I have been up for 15 hours now, trapped in my corner and I'm scared the spider will reappear. I'm tired but still not … right now I think I am entering the state of being OVERLY tired which most of the time leads to hyperactivity.

-mutters-

Well, please tell me what you think and I shall just overcome my fear of spiders and just go get some sleep … n.n

Night, night. Or rather ... morning -yawn-


End file.
